Laurie R. King (born September 19, 1952) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

best known for her

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as sp ...

Life and career

Born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

, King earned a degree in comparative religion from the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the ed ...

in 1977 and a masters in theology from the

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 ...

in 1984, where her thesis was on "Feminine Aspects of Yahweh". She later received an honorary doctorate from the

Church Divinity School of the Pacific Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It one of nine seminaries U.S. Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the Far West, C ...

. Among King's books are the Mary Russell series of historical mysteries, featuring

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

as her mentor and later partner, and a series featuring Kate Martinelli, a lesbian police officer in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. Using the pseudonym "Leigh Richards", she has published a science fiction novel, ''Califia's Daughters'' (2004). Across these genres, she explores several humanist themes, including the effects of war on soldiers as they attempt to find their place when returning home. This is seen in several of the Mary Russell novels and has been described in a comparison of the detectives in ''Keeping Watch'' (2003) and ''Touchstone'' (2007). She lives in

Watsonville, California Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, located in the Monterey Bay Area of the Central Coast of California. The population was 52,590 according to the 2020 census. Predominantly Latino and Democratic, Watsonville is a self ...

, in the hills above

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...

, southeast of Santa Cruz, California. From 1977 until his death in early 2009, she was married to the historian Noel Quinton King. They are the parents of two children.

Awards

King's first book, '' A Grave Talent'' (1993), received the 1994

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for Best First Novel and a 1995

John Creasey Memorial Award __NOTOC__ The CWA New Blood Dagger is an annual award given by the British Crime Writers' Association (CWA) for first books by previously unpublished writers. It is given in memory of CWA founder John Creasey and was previously known as The John Cre ...

. This was followed by the 1996

Nero Award The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27 ...

, for '' A Monstrous Regiment of Women'', the 2002

Macavity Award The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' ...

for Best Novel, for ''Folly'', the 2007 Lambda Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, for ''

The Art of Detection ''The Art of Detection'' is the fifth book in the Kate Martinelli series by Laurie R. King. It is preceded by '' Night Work''. It features elements of the Sherlock Holmes character who appears in King's Mary Russell series. Plot summary Philip ...

,'' and the 2015

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie, are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the traditional mystery subgenre: "books typified by the works of Agatha Christie . . . loosely defined as mysteries that contain no expli ...

for Best Historical Novel, for ''

Dreaming Spies ''Dreaming Spies'' is a 2015 mystery novel by American author Laurie R. King. Thirteenth in the Mary Russell series, the story features married detectives Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Although written thirteenth in sequence, the events i ...

''. She has also been nominated for two Anthonys, a

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

, two additional Edgars, another Macavity, an Orange Prize, and four RT Reviewers' Choice Awards. In 2022, she won the

's 'Grand Master' for her work. She was inducted into membership of

The Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley. The nonprofit organization currently numbers some 300 individuals worldwide. The group has published '' The Baker Street Journa ...

in 2010.

Works

Kate Martinelli mysteries

*'' A Grave Talent'' (1993) *'' To Play the Fool'' (1995) *'' With Child'' (1996) *'' Night Work'' (2000) *''

'' (2006) (

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

2006) *''Beginnings'' (2019)

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries

*'' The Beekeeper's Apprentice'' (1994) *'' A Monstrous Regiment of Women'' (1995) *''

A Letter of Mary ''A Letter of Mary'' is the third in the Mary Russell mystery series of novels by Laurie R. King. This is the first case that Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes work on together as husband and wife. The story features a cameo by Lord Peter Wimsey. ...

'' (1997) *'' The Moor'' (1998) *'' O Jerusalem'' (1999)
(although written fifth in sequence, the events in this book take place during the latter part of those described in ''The Beekeeper's Apprentice'') *'' Justice Hall'' (2002) *'' The Game'' (2004) *'' Locked Rooms'' (2005) *'' The Language of Bees'' (2009) *'' The God of the Hive'' (2010) *'' Beekeeping for Beginners'' (an ebook novella) (2011)
(This short story describes the early events of ''The Beekeeper's Apprentice'' from the point of view of Sherlock Holmes. The novella is included in ''Garment of Shadows'' .) *'' Pirate King'' (2011) *'' Garment of Shadows'' (2012) *''

'' (2015)
(although written thirteenth in sequence, the events in this book take place between those described in '' The Game'' and '' Locked Rooms'') *'' The Marriage of Mary Russell'' (March 15, 2016) *'' The Murder of Mary Russell'' (April 5, 2016) *'' Mary Russell's War And Other Stories of Suspense'' (2016) *'' Island of the Mad'' (2018) * '' Riviera Gold'' (2020) * '' Castle Shade'' (2021)

Harris Stuyvesant and Bennett Grey series

(Historical novels of suspense, featuring FBI agent Harris Stuyvesant and injured British soldier Bennett Grey) *''Touchstone'' (2007) *''The Bones of Paris'' (2013)

Non-series books

*''A Darker Place'' K title: ''The Birth of a New Moon''(1999) *''Folly'' (2001) *''Keeping Watch'' (2003) *''Califia's Daughters'' (as Leigh Richards) (2004) - science fiction. *''Lockdown'' (2017)

References

External links

*
Ex Libris Archives: Laurie R. King
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Laurie R. 1952 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Agatha Award winners American mystery writers American women novelists Edgar Award winners Lambda Literary Award winners Macavity Award winners Nero Award winners Writers of historical mysteries Writers from Santa Cruz, California Place of birth missing (living people) Women mystery writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers